How a Loving Couple Was Parted

In this painting by Miguel Covarrubias, we see possibly a man and wife or lovers in some kind of altercation. The man is clearly angry holding her by the wrist while holding a knife in his right hand. This may be his knife or he may have taken it from her as she tried to harm him. She does not look upset or scared. Instead, she looks angry while making a fist out of her left hand, preparing to fight back. At this point in the “fight”, we do not know who is gaining power. They seem like they share equal power.

The image of the boxers behind them are fighting for a different reason. They are fighting for sport. We see that one boxer has power over the other and the crowd is cheering him on. The man and woman do not have a crowd cheering them on. Their fight or anger is personal and as far as the viewer knows, there are no external factors causing this fight.

In the story of Mules and Men, the man and wife are in love with one another in the beginning. But after the Devil makes a bargain with a woman to tear the happy couple apart, the happy couple’s love for one another falls apart. The woman in the story is the external factor for their demise. She plants deceiving thoughts into their minds and they believe them whole heartedly. The man and wife in the story are equally responsible for the incident. They have equal power and the woman who planted the deceiving thoughts was cheering them on.
How a Loving Couple Was Parted